It’s not the first time they have refused to take the measure of their supercars; reconsider your declined invite next year, guys.

Although Ferrari and Lamborghini won’t play along, it’s worth noting fellow Italian Fiat had the guts to offer us a Mazda Miata, ahem, 124 Spider.

Not the quickest, not the fastest, not the most nimble, but certainly it is the most ambitious in terms of mission.

It’s even more so when you’re running side by side with 11 other sports cars. You’ll notice the lack of South Korean and Italian cars.

The former is excused by simply not making any sports cars. Both Ferrari and Lamborghini are so terrified of the world’s most comprehensive driving-car competition that they’ve taken their ball and gone home.

With seven all-new Astons coming, the V12 Vantage S is the last of its kind, a swan song for this line of Aston Martins.

We can’t wait to witness the next era, but we’re satisfied and saddened at the close of this one. It’s a very grand grand tourer, a long-legged oh-my-gawd-am-I-really-going-that-fast GT rather than an outright max-attack sports car with an R in the badge.

It has an extendable carbon-fiber front splitter (the leading edge is also dipped in orange), which has two positions to pick: scrapes-over-95-percent-of-things street or scrapes-over-everything track.

Sure, it looks like sex, especially with the orange lipstick that Cammisa said “looks like it’s been kissing the Mc Laren,” but it’s the sound that stands out. Really a sweetheart of an engine, good power throughout, and it loves to rev.

Mac Kenzie said the V-12 “loves to be revved, ideally kept spinning between 5,000 and 7,000 rpm to deliver its best—and an intoxicating metallic howl.” Said Seabaugh: “The engine! I only wish I knew where the hell redline was.”And this is where things began to go pear-shaped.

Next, the cars will cruise on up to California’s central valley, where our good buddies on the California Highway Patrol will close down a gorgeous 4.2-mile stretch of asphalt known as Highway 198 so our judges can further evaluate each contender at their limits in real-world conditions.

Next we’ll drive up to the coastal paradise of Monterey, California.

The M4 GTS employs a titanium exhaust “silencer” with a distinct sound, and it’s 20 percent lighter than a stainless-steel muffler, but this car doesn’t do silent.